Photo taken at the Akershus Fortress, Norway
Complete Spectrum
Growing up, I was lucky to have someone who showed me what it’s like to stand up for oneself—my mom. Sometimes I learned from her simple demeanor, in the way she held her own even when she disagreed with people around her.
In such moments, I could hardly ignore the qualities she possessed that enabled her to share her point of view whenever it was necessary. These essential traits I’m referring to are assertiveness, honesty, hope, and courage.
It was helpful to notice how she embodied these attributes that seem to push her to do her best every single day, and I have no doubt that it’s played a role in my approach to life. Looking back now, I’m grateful that I got the chance to witness firsthand what it means to strive to honor your ideals on a regular basis.
This is why I appreciate any time I get the chance to see these similar character traits in others, both in the real world and in the various art forms we come across in pop culture. It’s inspiring to get to see the fullness of a role model taking the lead in the stories that move us.
Relatable figures that validate diverse representation and experiences allow us to reclaim the complete spectrum of human expression. That said, here are five books I admire that explore all of these themes while featuring a strong female lead.
1. The Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins
Katniss Everdeen is without a doubt one of the most iconic characters in any book series. Rather than presenting the classic tropes you might expect, she portrays a multi-dimensional individual grounded in raw survival instincts, fierce protective loyalty, and genuine human flaws.
What stands out to me above all is that even while she faces unthinkable hardships and adversity, she never loses her integrity despite her exposure to corrupt acts of oppression. In the end, she redefines traditional heroism from the onset in choosing to protect her sister, ultimately driven by love through and through.
“But I feel as if I did know Rue, and she’ll always be with me. Everything beautiful brings her to mind. I see her in the yellow flowers that grow in the Meadow by my house. I see her in the Mockingjays that sing in the trees. But most of all, I see her in my sister, Prim.”
2. Little Women By Louisa May Alcott
If there’s any character from a novel that I felt I related to on a deep level, it would have to be Jo March. Personally, I can’t think of any fictional figure who strongly rejected typical gender roles from just her unapologetically strong-willed demeanor.
Yet, while her fierce passion comes with strengths, they also bring out her weaknesses, which include a headstrong, impulsive, and fiery temper that gets her into trouble so much of the time. But despite her undeniable imperfections, she learns to access different parts of her nature to find balance in the long run.
“Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as just beauty. I’m so sick of people saying that love is all a woman is fit for.”
3. Pride and Prejudice By Jane Austen
Naturally, there’s no talking about strong female leads without mentioning the most beloved heroines of all time. With her razor-sharp wit, moral fortitude, and unwavering loyalty to her family, Elizabeth Bennet is a highly-developed character with an unshakeable grasp of what she stands for.
Throughout the novel, this is exemplified in her choices to refuse societal pressures when confronted with sexism and class snobbery from wealthy, domineering personalities. At a time when silence and agreeableness were often expected, I can’t help but admire what Austen reveals in wielding the power of emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and a moral backbone; all of which she unpacks without the use of a single sword.
“You may ask questions which I shall not choose to answer.”
4. To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee
Another book with an unforgettable protagonist is Harper Lee’s award-winning novel set during the 1930s in the Deep South. As a young tomboy, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch challenges societal expectations in many ways, including her preference for overalls and tree-climbing instead of frilly dresses and tea sets.
What I love most about this character is her curiosity and observant nature toward those around her, which enables her to temper her hot-headedness and grow up into a more thoughtful individual. With the help of her father, Atticus, she learns what it takes to develop empathy by making room for different perspectives.
“I never deliberately learned to read, but somehow I had been wallowing illicitly in the daily papers. In the long hours of church—was it then I learned? I could not remember not being able to read hymns. Now that I was compelled to think about it, reading was something that just came to me, as learning to fasten the seat of my union suit without looking around, or achieving two bows from a snarl of shoelaces. I could not remember when the lines above Atticus’s moving finger separated into words. But I had stared at them all the evenings in my memory, listening to the news of the day, Bills to Be Enacted into Laws, the diaries of Lorenzo Dow—anything Atticus happened to be reading when I crawled into his lap every night. Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”
5. The Empyrean Series By Rebecca Yarros
This is a series I recently found that easily made me an instant fan from the very first page. Violet Sorrengail is yet another empowering character who is underestimated by her opponents due to her small size and chronic physical limitations.
Nevertheless, she proves them wrong through her intelligence, adaptability, and grit. With the “mind of a scribe and heart of a rider,” this is a lead like no other that left me speechless in all of the ways she brings to bear one of my favorite themes in the book, which is that not all strength is physical.
“It’s going to die just because it’s smaller, weaker than the other dragons…just like me. My throat closes. The dragon backs up, its growl growing louder as it bares its teeth. Stomach pitching, I have that Parapet feeling again—whatever I do next has overwhelming odds of ending my life. And yet, I’m still going to do it because this is wrong. ‘You can’t do this!’ I take the first step into the shin-high grass…”
Window of Possibility
Perhaps it’s far too easy to do away with works of fiction and focus on the proven facts of the world. But in my experience, there’s just too much to lose when we neglect the unmatched capacity of our imaginations.
Whether it takes the silliness of a clever little girl or the frail vulnerability of an honest fighter, these small moments can wake us up to a sense of aliveness we might not even realize lies waiting inside us. Real or not real, it’s an idea itself that can plunge us through the window of possibility, imprinting on a soul enough to offer the power of perspective; and if we’re lucky, the power of choice.
